Trump's Freeze of Korea Joint Exercises Catches Allies by Surprise

Sheila Collins |Friday, June 15, 2018

The two leaders shake hands as the summit begins

Its Foreign Affairs Ministry at a regular press briefing on Tuesday said the United Nations Security Council resolutions on sanctions required that as North Korea complied with these resolutions, "it is necessary to adjust the sanction measures, including the suspension of relevant sanctions".

Democratic critics in the USA said the agreement was short on detail and that Trump had made too many concessions to Kim without getting anything concrete in return.

In a joint statementsigned by Trump and Kim at the historic summit, the leaders pledged to work toward "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula, falling short of specifying the plan and timeframe of the denuclearization process.

The summit in Singapore was the first-ever between a sitting leader of the U.S. and North Korea. Images of Mr Kim standing side-by-side with Mr Trump on the world stage were splashed across newspapers.

In response to Menendez on Thursday, Harris praised Trump's effort to bring the North Korean leader "to his senses, not to his knees", a reference to favouring diplomatic action over military deterrence towards Pyongyang.

Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said Japan saw "US-South Korean joint exercises and the US military presence in South Korea as vital to security in East Asia". The North's official KCNA news agency said the two men "gladly accepted" mutual invitations to visit each other's countries, and asserted Trump had "expressed his intention" to lift sanctions against the North - something the USA president had told a press conference would happen "when we are sure that the nukes are no longer a factor".

The US hopes to see "major disarmament" by North Korea by the end of 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says.

Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Seoul, said that the meeting was an opportunity for the three countries "to show that they are in the same page" when it comes to the issue of North Korea and denuclearisation.

In a statement, U.S. Forces-Korea said it had received no guidance or forewarning of Trump's announcement of the halt to the exercises, and South Korea professed to be baffled.

Trump's comment on suspending joint exercises with Seoul have caught South Korea's Defense Ministry and US forces in Korea off guard.

South Korea will have to be flexible when it comes to military pressure on North Korea if it is honest about denuclearisation, and it will review its position on military exercises with the United States, President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday.

Japanese officials are seeking a possible summit in September when both Abe and Kim are expected to attend an economic forum in Vladivostok in Russia's far east, according to news reports.

The president had previously mocked Chairman Kim during public appearances and regularly referred to him as "little rocket man" and said he was on a "suicide mission".

He emphasized that if a Japan-North Korea summit is held, it is crucial that the talks lead to a resolution of the abduction issue, along with the issues of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles.

The resolutions "have mechanisms for relief contained in them and we agreed that at the appropriate time that those would be considered", Pompeo said.

But he also said he would love to bring the United States military out of South Korea because of the cost, adding that while it was not now part of the discussion, "at the appropriate time, it will be".

Popular news

'Lockdown, lockdown:' Young students learn new nursery rhyme
I'm only going to add one more comment to this: the school is doing exactly what they need to be doing, and I am glad for it. Officials went on to say that lockdowns are jarring and students know how unnatural the experience is, the Post said.

Porsche Taycan name confirmed for production-spec Mission E
Three years ago, Porsche debuted its Mission E concept , the first electric vehicle to challenge Elon Musk's Tesla Model S. It will have a range of over 300 miles, produce over 600 horsepower, and accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 3.5 seconds.

Ghost of Tsushima makes its gameplay debut at E3 2018
In addition to the trailer for the new Spider-Man game , the company also showed off some other high profile titles. Now a seasoned Super Hero, Peter Parker has been busy keeping crime off the streets as Spider-Man.

The best moments from the Warriors Parade
Warriors kept the Cavs at bay in each of their showdown tie, despite talisman LeBron James hitting top form. During the Dubs' championship parade in Oakland Tuesday, however, Myers backtracked from that statement.

Kanye and Kid Cudi unveil Kids See Ghost: Stream
As Pitchfork notes in a post of observations about the original stream, the album's final song prominently samples Kurt Cobain . The song's title is hard to confirm, due to multiple versions of the Kids See Ghosts tracklist that have been floating around.

Judge rules AT&T can purchase Time Warner
The judge's ruling is being seen by tech and telecom giants as a green light to pursue a slew of major media acquisitions. The Justice Department "did a good job just focusing on this merger. and how it would be abusive, not just how bad".